Relationship between POI configurations and environmental benefits of dockless bike-sharing system: A case study of Shenzhen

Dockless bike-sharing (DBS) offers an environmentally friendly alternative for urban transportation. Previous studies have estimated the environmental benefits of bike sharing by analyzing bike trip data, which mainly focused on quantifying greenhouse gas emission reductions but overlooked the relationship between point of interest (POI) configurations and environmental benefits. This study proposes a novel framework to analyze the impact of POI configurations on the environmental benefits of DBS systems. First, detailed trajectories of alternative travel modes are obtained using multi-mode route planning techniques. The CO2 emission reductions achieved by DBS as a substitute for driving or public transit are then quantified at both the trip and grid levels. Next, a POI-type embedding model is employed to reclassify POI types, enhancing semantic coherence among them. Finally, the relationship between POI configurations and the environmental benefits of the DBS system is investigated. Using Shenzhen as a case study, we calculate grid-level CO2 emission reductions from bike sharing and identify the characteristics of grids with high potential for environmental benefits on both workdays and weekends. These findings provide valuable insights into the environmental benefits of bike sharing systems in urban contexts at a high spatial resolution, supporting effective planning and management of these systems.